


Brother In Law

by bombshellblonde



Series: Mickey the Gallagher [1]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Brother in law things, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Suicide Attempt, Mickey the Gallagher, talked about not described
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-02-22 11:33:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22482268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bombshellblonde/pseuds/bombshellblonde
Summary: Just some little moments of Mickey interacting with the Gallagher siblings and their kids
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: Mickey the Gallagher [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622866
Comments: 95
Kudos: 707





	1. Lip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey helps Lip renovate his house and they finally have a conversation they've always needed to have.

Mickey set the hammer down with a huff, pulling the mask off his face and stepping back to admire their work.

“Gettin pretty close with this wall. Looks like most of the damage was just on the drywall too. You have the place checked for termites yet?”

Lip pulled off his own mask and went to sit on one of the lawn chairs he had set up in the living room.

“Yeah inspector came last week. All clear in that area. There’s water damage and a little surface mold but it’s in pretty good shape.”

Mickey shrugged and want to sit in the other chair next to him. Lip opened the cooler between them and offered Mickey a beer.

“Nah man I’ll stick to water.” Mickey said, grabbing a water bottle from the cooler, throwing another one to Lip.

“I’m not made of glass Mickey you can drink in front of me.” Lip said, flipping the cooler lid closed. Mickey waved his hand dismissively.

“Promised your brother I’d cut back ever since the wedding. You know his meds make him get hammered off of one drink.” Mickey explained, his hand reflexively coming up to touch the rings hanging on a chain around his neck.

“What’s with that by the way?” Lip asked, pointing to the necklace. Mickey didn’t appreciate the tone in Lips voice. Even after all the shit they’ve been through, Lip gets a little too protective over Ian sometimes. 

Mickey held the rings up, raising his eyebrow. “I only take them off when I work with my hands. Don’t wanna get them caught in your moldy ass walls and rip my fuckin finger off.”

“Okay” Lip said, still with a tone.

“Fuck you you know these things are important to me.” Mickey snapped at him.

“I’m not saying anything.” Lip said, trying to walk it back, but Mickey turned to face him.

“Am I ever gonna be good enough for you man? I know you helped with the wedding, we both know that was for him. You realize that I would die for your brother right?”

“Yeah Mickey I know that.” Lip said, setting down his water, sensing a fight coming on.

“Do you? Cause I’m over here helping you renovate your house. I babysit your kid, I help take care of all the other minors in that house, including practically fostering Franny while Debbie is locked up and I love your brother, my Husband, so much that I have literally gotten myself thrown in prison just to protect him. And sometimes you still look at me like I have a foot out the door.”

Silence fell between them and Lip got up. He started pacing back and forth and scratched the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry Mickey” Lip finally said, turning to face the other man. “I really am. I don’t know why I keep doing that.”

Mickey rubbed his eyebrow. “Look man I’ve spent the better part of ten years trying to prove to myself and Ian that I’m in this. I don’t have the energy to prove it to you too.”

Lip shook his head. “You don’t have anything to prove man.” Lip assured him. “Cause you’re right. I’m being an asshole, I’ve been an asshole to you for a long time and I’m sorry. You’re my brother in law now and I’ve gotta start treating you like it.”

Mickey sighed and stood up. “I get that you’re protective of him, Fiona’s not around and I know she never really liked me and you and Ian-”

Lip put his hand up to stop Mickey.

“You’ve done more to take care of and protect him than anyone in this family ever has. I’ve gotta start accepting that.” Lip said simply.

Mickey sat back on his heels and gave Lip a smirk. “That AA therapy bullshit really working wonders huh?”

Lip chuckled. “Yeah, that and getting to bash in the walls of this place.”

Mickey laughed too and grabbed his hammer and mask again. “Just keep Carl out of here when you start working the electricity.”

“Or else he’ll blow it up I know.” Lip said, picking up his own hammer again. He held it up to tap it with Mickey’s like a toast. Mickey raised his own.

“Kinda nice having another brother around.” Lip commented as they tapped them.

“Back at ya Phillip.” Mickey said, covering his smirk with the face mask.

“Fuck you Mikhalio.” Lip laughed, raising his hammer and taking a swing at the wall.


	2. Debbie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debbie is in prison for a few months and Franny misses her mom, so Mickey takes her for a visit.

“Mickey I can try to talk to my supervisor again or I can take a sick day, you really don’t have to go on your own.” Ian tried to assure his husband.

They were sat at the kitchen table, the rest of the family long since left and dinner cleaned up behind them. Mickey was nursing a beer and Ian was sitting next to him, a reassuring hand on his husband’s knee.

“Ian she already said nooone can cover for you. And you only have two weeks of sick days left this year and I don’t want you wasting them on this incase you actually need them.” Mickey said, matter of factly.

“My meds have been steady though, I’m not likely to have a down swing anytime soon and-” Mickey put his hand on Ian’s chin softly, cutting off his train of thought.

“I know that Ian. And it’s not like I’m waiting for you to crash. I just don’t want either one of us to stress out over work if that does happen. That’s the last thing I’d wanna be thinking about if you were laid up. Or if Franny gets a cold and has to stay home from daycare or if Liam breaks his leg or Carl blows something up and you or I need to be somewhere in a hurry.” Mickey rationalized.

Ian’s face softened and he took Mickey’s hand from his face, kissing the rings on his finger.

“I just don’t want you to have to go there alone. I never wanted you to have to step back in a prison ever again, but the idea of you going without me really bothers me.” Ian said honestly, Mickey covered Ian’s hand with his own and leaned forward, getting into his husbands space.

“Well lucky for both of us, no one is trying to keep me there. It’s a minimum security women's prison and I will have mini red with me. She’s had to wait long enough to see her mom again and you know your sister is desperate to see her kid. I’ll be fine taking her for an hour then coming right back home like the free man that I am.”

The look Mickey was giving Ian was so open and soft that it made Ian’s heart melt as he fell in love with his husband just a little bit more. 

“Fine,” Ian conceded. “You win. Just give her my love and text me when you get there and when you leave?”

“Yes dear.” Mickey said, giving his husband a soft kiss.

\-----

Mickey would be lying if he said that sitting in this visitors room wasn't triggering the shit out of him. Between the hard plastic bench of the cafeteria style table and the whole process he and Franny had to go through just to get in. Fuckin guards making him answer a million fucking questions like they couldn't understand that he was Debbie's brother in law and Franny's Uncle, but he was keeping his cool. His leg was bouncing like he just shotgunned three Red Bulls but otherwise he was fine. He was keeping a hold on a squirmy Franny as she sat on the bench next to him.

The sound of the buzzers and overhead announcements when prisoners were moved from space to space fucking sucked and he knew the guards were hovering around him more than they would have someone without his tattoos and general attutide but he was keeping it together. He was breathing deeply and staying firmly in Uncle/Foster Dad mode because the last thing Franny needed was for him to lose his shit and run out of there before she got to see her mom.

“Where’s Mommy?” Franny asked for the tenth time in the last five minutes. Mickey kept a steading hand on her back so she didn’t fall backwards off of the bench.

“Just another minute Coppertone. They like to make you wait in these places.” Mickey explained Franny crossed her arms and pouted and Mickey couldn’t blame her, that’s exactly how he felt too as each second dragged one.

Finally, ten minutes after their visit was scheduled to start, Debbie was escorted into the room, wearing a similar yellow jumpsuit to the ones Mickey and Ian had to wear when they were locked up. Mickey caught her expression going from grim to elated when she caught sight of Franny.

“Baby!” Debbie said as she came up to the table, taking her daughter into her arms and letting Franny go full koala bear around her neck. The guards let it happen because it was a kid and this wasn’t a maximum security place. Debbie sat Franny on her lap on the other side of the table and played with her daughters hands.

“Mickey thank you so much for bringing her you have no idea how much I missed her.” Debbie said, looking back and forth between her daughters face and Mickey’s.

“I mean I have some idea but yeah, no sweat Red. How they treating you in here?”

Debbie’s face fell a little bit but she shrugged, playing off any hurt she was experiencing. Fucking Gallagher stubbernness. 

“It’s fine. People with my charge get a lot of shit in here but when some of the other women heard the story they eased up a bit. A lot of people are in here for a lot worse.”

Mickey smirked. “One of these days everyone in your family is going to be out of prison all at the same time.”

Debbie cracked a smile at that too and looked up at her brother-in-law.

“Hey those few months between your release and your wedding we were all doing pretty okay.” She joked. “And none of this ‘your family’ shit Mickey. You’re a Gallagher now too, it’s OUR family.”

Mickey smirked and twisted the rings on his fingers.

“Gallagher-Milkovich technically.” He corrected her. She shrugged.

“You have the name, you’re stuck with us, deal with it.” She said simply and Mickey gave in, nodding in agreement. They spent a few minutes in silence, even Franny, just happy to be back in her moms arms for a few minutes.

Debbie ran her fingers through her daughters hair and kissed the top of her head, she looked back up at Mickey, he could see her eyes were red rimmed like she was holding back tears all of a sudden.

“Thank you for taking care of her. If CPS had it their way I don’t know what the fuck I would have done.” She said sincerely. Mickey shook his head.

“Ian and I would never have let that happen. After the shit we’ve both been through in the system? None of the Gallagher kids ever have to worry about getting thrown into that bullshit ever again. Liam, Fred and Franny are all gonna be looked after. No matter fucking what.”

Debbie let some tears fall at Mickey’s words and the strength and sincerity behind them and he reached his hand out across the table, offering it to Debbie.

“Hey, cmon knock that shit off.” He said quietly. She sniffled and nodded. She brought her hand up to hold his over the table.

“Thank you” She whispered. “For everything. And thanks again for bringing her here. I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”

Mickey waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve got the easy side of it this time. I’m not the one in the ugly jumpsuit.”

Her face fell and she looked down at Franny while her daughter tugged at the lapels of the offending garment.

“Mickey I never apologized to you for the whole Sammy thing. Or thanked you for not mentioning me when you got locked up. You could have taken me down with you.”

Mickey shrugged. “I was a fucked up mess Debbie. Already thought your brother hated me, wasn’t gonna get his sister thrown in jail and make it fuckin worse.”  


Debbie shifted uncomfortably.

“Shit, I kind of ruined your life for a few years there.” She admitted, mostly to herself more than Mickey. Again he tried to shrug it off.

“Water under the bridge, nothing we can do to change that shit and now I’m here, your brother finally put a ring on it. What’s done is done.” He said simply. Debbie took a deep breath and met his eyes.

“You’re a better person than anyone gives you credit for Mickey.” She said bluntly and he just let that comment lay there.

“Bet you never thought the likes of me would be parenting material huh?” He tried to joke and changed the subject Debbie cracked a smile but shook her head.

“I always knew. From the second I saw you with Ian in that bed and the way you stood up to Fiona I had a feeling you’d be a great parent. You’re a caretaker Mickey. You’re gonna be a great dad.” She squeezed his hand and he felt those words wash over him, shaking them off so he could feel them later.

“Yeah well how about we get you out of here first? A few more months, you’ll get your rugrat back and your brother can start trying to knock me up.” He said with a wink.

That made Debbie huff out a laugh. 

“God the world would be a better place if that shit were possible.” She said, taking her hand back and wiping her tears.

The buzzer in the room sounded again and a guard came up behind Debbie, informing her that visiting hours were over.

“Fuck” She whispered, holding her daughter close and kissing her head again.

“Hey it’s not for much longer okay? You’ll probably even get out early.” Mickey tried to assure her. Debbie nodded and handed Franny back, taking her chances with the guards and leaning over to hug Mickey, squishing Franny between them.

“I promise one day you won’t have to be the designated caretaker of all ginger Gallaghers.” Debbie said as she pulled away.

Mickey shrugged and adjusted Franny on his hip.

“Eh the gigs not too bad.” He said simply.

“Pay is shit though.” Debbie fired back with half a smile.

Mickey snorted and helf Franny closer when she started to squirm. The guards took Debbie by the shoulder and started to tug her away. "I love you Frannie baby! I love you so much!" She said as she went with the guard.

“Mommy!” Franny called after her and Mickey saw Debbie wipe away some fresh tears.

“Hey hey it’s okay.” He assured the small girl. “You’ll see Mommy again real soon.”

Debbie was pulled from the room and Mickey turned, starting the long walk back to the car, holding Franny close through every locked door and fence opened in front of them.

“Uncle Mickey I wanna go home.” Franny said as they reached the car.

“That’s a good idea kid. Let’s go home.”


	3. Liam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam asks for Mickey's advice.

“Hey kid.” Mickey said as he plopped down on the couch next to Liam. 

It was a Saturday afternoon in the Gallagher house and somehow Mickey and Liam were the only two family members home. Franny was out with Sandy and Lip and his kid for a little cousin bonding time, Ian was at work, Debbie still had a month to go on her sentence and Carl was at the place of whatever girl he was banging this week.

“Hey Mickey” Liam greeted, looking up from his math homework. “You any good at math?”

Mickey looked over Liam’s shoulder at the page and considered it for a second. 

“I am actually. Only good thing about the Terry Milkovich homeschool slash drug sweatshop. You learn your fractions and percentages pretty quick.”

Liam looked over at Mickey with that perplexed look the youngest Gallagher sibling still got sometimes. “You had a fucked up childhood.” he said plainly.

Mickey smirked and countered. “Yeah like yours was normal. Only black biological child of two white drug addicts who leave meth as their kids inherit when they croak.”

Liam nodded and pointed his pencil at Mickey. “Touche.”

He put the pencil in the book and closed it. “I’ll finish that later.”

“Yeah okay. You wanna play some XBox? Haven’t kicked a Gallaghers ass in GTA in a minute.” Mickey suggested, reaching to the coffee table for the controller.

“Actually I wanted to ask you something.” Liam said casually, so Mickey shrugged and settled back in the couch with the controller, pressing buttons to start setting up the game.

“Shoot.” He said.

“How did you know you were gay?” Liam asked. 

And then a big boulder sized silence fell over the room. Mickey felt like he’d been thrown in the deep end of a conversation he was NOT qualified for. He put the controller down and turned to face the kid.

“Uh...why do you ask?” He started, secretly praying Ian would come home from his shift three hours early and take this conversation on himself.

“Just wanted to know. I actually don’t even know if you ARE gay.” Liam pointed out. Mickey’s eyebrows flew up his forehead.

“Did you miss the part where I married your gay brother? You stole us the car for the honeymoon so I know you were there. And you just live down the hall. I know these walls aren’t thick and I’m not quiet.”

“No, stop I know all that.” Liam said, making a face. He didn’t need to be reminded about his brother and brother in law’s sex life. 

“But I’ve never heard you say you were gay. You could be bi or something I don’t know.” Liam clarified.

“I’m gay.” Mickey said simply. “I’m really really fucking gay.”

“Okay.” Liam said, still looking at Mickey expecentaly, waiting for him to answer his question. “So...how did you know? When did you know?”

“Holy shit.” Mickey said, squirming on the couch more and rubbing at his eyebrow. “Okay I guess we’re doing this. Fine, fuck. I uh, I guess I started to suspect when I was around your age.”

“Really?” Liam asked, turning to face Mickey more, really engaged in the conversation which made Mickey want to run way the fuck away. “What tipped you off?”

Mickey sighed and pointed at Liam with authority. “You tell your brother I said this and I will shave you bald while you sleep, including eyebrows got it?”

“Jesus yeah I got it.” Liam said, throwing up his hand like a surrender and Mickey nodded.

“I was on a pee wee baseball team. And I had a crush on this annoying fucking red head that spent most of the games riding the bench. I saw his freckles and his stupid fucking smile and how funny he was and I wanted to be around him more.” Mickey explained. Liam’s eyes went wide.

“So the kid on the team was…”

“Yeah it was your lanky ginger fucking brother. He doesn’t know cause I never told him. He thinks I don’t even remember being on the team with him.” 

“You’re embarrassed to let Ian know you had a crush on him when you were ten.” Liam stated simply. 

“Yeah so what?” Mickey said with a shrug.

“He’s your husband. You don’t want to admit that you had a crush...on your husband.”

“Hey fuck off twenty questions. You wanted to fucking know now you know.” Mickey said, getting off the couch and walking to the kitchen to get a beer. 

Liam got up and followed him to the kitchen, sliding onto one of the barstools by the counter. Great, apparently this conversation was going to continue.

“So what did you do about it? When you realized you had a crush on Ian, on a guy?” Liam probed further. Mickey popped the cap off of his beer and took a swig. He took longer than he needed to to swallow and shrugged.

“Didn’t do shit. Saw my dad fag bash a guy in an alley, next time we had a game and I saw your brother, I pissed on first base and got kicked off the fuckin team. When I hit puberty I just did a lot of jerking off to Mandy’s old magazines and movie posters. Then your brother broke into my room with a tire iron.”

Mickey shrugged again and took another swig of his beer like that was the end of the story. Liam knew enough about their early relationship at this point to not try and push for any more details.

“So weird to think that you and Ian have been together for my entire life. Like literally since I was a few months old, you have been fucking my brother.”

Mickey smirked to himself and muttered. “He’s been doin the fuckin but yeah.” before taking another sip of beer. 

Liam shook off the sexual comment and seemed to get lost in thought for a few moments. Mickey felt like the spotlight was shifting off of him a little bit and that made him feel better, so he really started to study the young Gallagher. He put his beer down and leaned over the counter, balancing himself on his elbows to meet Liam’s eye level.

“What you asking for huh?” He asked carefully. “Thinking you might be a little less than straight?”

Liam avoided Mickey’s eyes and shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t know. Maybe? I am only ten.”

“Fuck that, figuring out if you are gay or whatever’s got nothin to do with age. Everyone thinks it’s adorable when two little straight kids have crushes on each other but if its two little boys all of a sudden it’s inappropriate. Fuckin hypocritical.”

That made Liam look up and meet Mickey’s eyes. “Okay yeah, maybe I have a crush on a kid in my class.”

“Yeah?” Mickey asked. “He have a crush on you too?”

Liam hesitated for a second then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded up note that he threw on the counter between them. 

“He gave me this yesterday at school.”

Mickey took the note and stood up straight, unfolding it to read it. 

“I like you. What do you think? A) I like you too B) never talk to me again C) lets just pretend this never happened. Think about it and give this note back to me on Monday.”

Mickey looked to Liam with a little smile. “This kid’s got style for a ten year old.”

“He’s 11” Liam corrected. Mickey handed back the note and pushed Liam’s shoulder teasingly.

“Oh an older man, maybe you’re more like your brother than you think.” 

“I feel like I know what that joke means but I don’t want to ask any questions.” Liam said, tucking the note back in his pocket.

“Story for another time.” Mickey said, picking his beer back up. “If you like the kid, answer him. Have him over to do fuckin homework or whatever. And if kids at school give you shit for it, you know you got a whole Gallagher army behind you. Bet Ian could still convince the gay Jesus groupies to defend you too.”

“But I don’t even know if I like guys completely yet.” Liam said. Mickey waved his hand dismissively. 

“So hang out with the kid and see how you feel. He’s probably just as fuckin confused as you are. You can just be friends with him til you both figure shit out. And when you hit puberty, trust me you’re body will make it real fuckin clear what you are into.”

Liam took a second to let Mickey’s advice sink in then climbed off the stool.

“Thanks Mickey, that helped.” He said simply.

“Hey what are brothers for right? I just think it’s fuckin hilarious that if you are gay or bi or whatever, that makes half of your fucking siblings some kind of queer and half straight.”

“Jury’s still out on Carl and Fiona.” Liam said. Mickey raised his eyebrow and Liam threw up his hands. “Everyone thinks I don’t see stuff just cause I’m young. I see stuff, I hear stuff.”

“Huh” Mickey said, nodding in contemplation. “Well I’m pretty sure I’m the only gay ones of my siblings. Two gay cousins though, Sandy and Jamie. And a trans cousin Molly. Haven’t heard from her in a minute though.”

“Better hope Terry never runs into her.” Liam said. Mickey nodded.

“The fat fuck will be dead any day now. Had a heart attack last week, Iggy said they’re pullin the plug.”

“Congrats.” Liam said simply. “Still wanna play GTA?”

“Fuck it why not?” Mickey said, following Liam back to the living room.


	4. Fiona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian lands himself in the hospital and all of a sudden Fiona is there. And Mickey has had just about enough from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I want to say I'm so fucking sorry about this one. I just had a lot of negative Fiona feelings when it comes to how she treated Mickey and thought they both needed to be in a really bad headspace to let it all hang out once and for all.

Mickey was at the end of his rope physically and emotionally. His back was killing him from 24 hours sitting in a shitty hospital chair. He had acid reflux from the terrible fucking coffee and the shitty hospital food that Debbie and Lip kept bringing him. Debbie had to be home before curfew for her parole and Lip had to tend to Fred. They brought him and Ian changes of clothes, so Mickey could get the blood off of himself and so that Ian didn’t have to wear hospital issued underwear for three days. So at this point Mickey was left in the waiting room on his own. He wasn’t even allowed back in Ian’s room anymore.

After they stabilized him and confirmed that he was physically okay, they had to admit him for a 72 hour hold. Ian and Mickey both figured that would be the case, the hospital takes suicide atempts pretty seriously. 

They were allowed a minute to say their goodbyes and they spent it holding each other. Mickey stroked Ian’s hair as he sobbed and apologized and Mickey kissed his husband's head and assured him that everything was going to be okay. Told him that doctors would just help get his meds leveled out again, that Mickey loved him and would be waiting here when he was released. 

One thing that fucking stung was that they had to take away Ian’s personal possessions, including his phone and wedding rings. Neither man would let the hospital take them, even when a particularly tired and by the book nurse tried to do it by force. Mickey got her to back off and Ian gave Mickey his phone and slipped off his rings and handed them to Mickey. 

He used the chain he normally hung his own on at work and added Ian’s to it, holding them against his heart.

“These will be with me.” He promised his husband. “And I’ll put them right back where they fucking belong when I get you back, Ian.”

Ian just cried some more and pulled Mickey in for a watery kiss before Mickey was politely asked to leave the room.

That was ten hours ago and Mickey was still at the hospital. 

Everybody told him to go home, that there was nothing he could do but he didn’t want to go back home yet. Carl texted him and promised that the bathroom and his and Ian’s room was clean and that there wasn’t any blood left but Mickey needed another little while. He just needed to be close to Ian for just a little bit longer.

He was slipping in and out of sleep, spread out between two shitty lobby chairs when he heard someone at the front desk being much too fucking loud for this time of night.

“Hello? Can someone just tell me what fucking room Ian Gallagher is in?!” The woman yelled. The nurses at the desk turned away from her, clearly not getting paid enough to put up with this bullshit at 3am. Mickey rubbed at his eyes and stood up, he stared at the woman from behind and it took his exhausted brain a second to realize who it was.

“Fiona?” He asked, walking up behind her. “The fuck are you doing here?”

Fiona swung around and looked at Mickey, she looked like shit, her hair was a mess, she had bags under her eyes. She must have taken a red eye to get here and come straight to the hospital if the duffle bag slung over her shoulder was anything to go by.

“Liam texted, told me Ian was back in the hospital. What the fuck happened? Liam said it was an attempted suicide? Why the fuck wasn’t anyone watching him?” She asked with a lot more attitude than Mickey had the patience for at the moment.

“Hey, woah calm down alright? He’s stable, he’s fine, but they’re not letting anyone back to see him right now. I was just procrastinating going home but how about we get out of here alright?”

“Not even family? I want to see my fucking brother.” Fiona questioned, and once again the tone in her voice and self important look on her face made Mickey want to tell her to fuck back off to where ever she came from, but he was too wiped out to do that right now.

“Yeah even fuckin family. Which is why his husband is out here sleeping in the waiting room.” He snapped, his tolerance for her already running thin. But he took a breath, thought of Ian and tried to soften his tone

“Look there’s a diner across the street with half decent food and coffee. Lets just go there and talk okay? Unless you wanna breathe in ammonia and yell at a few more nurses?” 

Fiona seemed to consider her options for a moment, pulling at the strap of the bag on her shoulder. 

“Yeah” she finally said “Yeah okay I could eat.”

“Great” Mickey said, turning around and walking out of the lobby, not even checking to see if she was following.

\------

This was fucking awkward. 

They got to the diner and aside from the poor waitress and cook that pulled the graveyard shift, they had the place to themselves. They both just ordered coffee and the waitress left them alone when she sensed the fucked up tension lingering between them.

“So Ian said you’re set up in California now?” Mickey tried to break the ice, his finger rubbing the rim of the coffee cup.

“Uh yeah. Got my real estate license out there. Selling condos to rich pricks.” She said half heartedly.

“Mm” Mickey said, taking a sip of his coffee. He leaned back in his booth and his hand came up to play with the rings around his neck.

“Makin good money?” He asked her. She seemed a little offended by the question but she nodded.

“Yeah. Got a decent place, taking last minute flights is easier than it used to be.” She answered.

“Mmm. Cool. You make your own hours in that job?” He questioned and he saw her shift in her seat and squint at him.

“I mean more or less yeah.” She answered. “Why do you ask?”

“Just trying to figure you out.” Mickey said simply.

“Excuse me?” She asked, leaning back like he pushed her.

“Just thinking.” Mickey said, crossing his arms. 

“So you are making good money. You make your own hours. There’s nothing medically wrong with you and you are capable of buying a plane ticket and getting your ass on the plane to get here no problem.”

“The fuck are you getting at?” She snapped at him.

“Why now?” He asked simply, letting the rings fall against his chest.

She seemed taken back, either by the question or the tone Mickey used but he could give a fuck which one right now.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean. You missed the birth of Lip’s kid, even when Tami almost died. You missed your little sister getting arrested for statutory rape and almost losing her kid. You’re missing Liam’s entire fucking childhood which is weird cause I think you are still legally his fucking guardian. And what else? Oh yeah. You missed Ian’s wedding. You missed the wedding of your fucking brother who looked up to you his entire life, to the man he loves. The man who loves him. In case you’re wondering, that’s me.”

Mickey pointed to himself. “Me. Ian's husband.The fucking guy who picked your bleeding brother off the floor last night and rushed him to the hospital. The one you apparently still don’t consider to be his fucking family.”

Mickey took a beat and put his elbows on the table. “You missed all of that shit, but Liam texts you that Ian is in the hospital and here you fucking are, playing big sister. Good for you.”

Mickey watched Fiona’s eyes go cold, her expression turn to steel.

“You got a lot of fuckin nerve Milkovich.” She said in a low, angry tone. Mickey matched her tone, the anger just searing under his skin.

“It’s Gallagher-Milkovich now Fiona and I have nerve? Really?” He challenged.

“I raised those fucking kids.” Fiona said, slamming her hand on the table. 

“I’ve been taking care of them since I was fourteen fucking years old. I finally go and get a life for myself and I get you fucking lecturing me? How dare you sit there and accuse me of not being there for them.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mickey asked her. 

“Do you think Ian had never told me the shit you got into? You got custody of them and immediately started shacking up with a piece of shit coke head. I was fucking THERE for when you almost killed Liam.”

He huffed and got his second wind. He had been waiting YEARS to tear into this self righteous bitch.

“Ian was sixteen when he disappeared for MONTHS and you didn’t life a fucking finger to find him.”

“Oh and you did?” She countered. “I seem to remember Kev saying you planted yourself at the Alibi and got fucking shit faced while your pregnant wife gave out handjobs.”

“I’M THE ONE WHO BROUGHT HIM HOME!” Mickey yelled, slamming his hand on the table. He saw the waitress whip around and stare at them but he was so fucking far beyond caring. He pointed a finger at Fiona and felt steam billow from his ears.

“I picked him up out of the fucking snow, out of the arms of yet another pedofile taking advantage of him and I brought him fucking home.”

“Again, the home you shared with your Wife and Child.” She tried to throw at him.

“Jesus Christ. Just gonna skip past all the pedos who fucked your teenage brother? Like Kash and your fucking boyfriends dad Ned? Did a great job looking after him there by the way. Fuck it then, lets focus on my shitty first marriage. Did you ever fucking ask me anything about that? You ever ask Ian? The whole better part of a year I lived at your house did you ever once try and have a fucking conversation with us about what the situation was? No of course you fucking didn’t.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean? Like there’s any good explanation for you treating my brother like a mistress. Made you the third married man just trying to keep him on the side.” She crossed her arms across the chest and leaned back like she had somehow fucking won with that. He ignored the fact that she brushed over the fucked up abuse that passed as relationships with Kash and Ned and Mickey just brought his voice down nice and low and started speaking to her in a very even tone.

“I was raped.” He said, letting that sit for a beat. That was still a hard sentence for him to say.

“My psychotic father caught Ian and me together and he held Ian at gun point and had Svetlana rape me. Then he told me that I knocked her up and he made me marry her or else he would track Ian down and fucking kill him.”

Mickey watched his words wash over Fiona. He watched her deflate and look at him with fucking pity in her eyes.

“But what do you give a shit right? All I ever was to you was the fucking stray your brother brought home. No matter how much I did. No matter how I stuck around when he was diagnosed. No mater how many times I went WITH YOU to visit him in hospitals. Tell me how many times have you gone to prison for him? I’ve done it at least twice.”

“I...I didn’t” she stuttered out. Mickey cut her off.

“No you didn’t know. You didn’t ask. You were so wrapped up in your own bullshit back then that you didn’t realize half the shit your brother was going through. And yeah some of it was because of me and some of it was his bipolar. But he and I have worked our problems out like fucking adults. You just looked in from the outside and judged us.”

“I mean…” she tried to salvage herself. “In my defense. You were in prison for half your relationship. Then you were on the run from the feds.”

Mickey laughed bitterly. “You forget you went to prison too? It so easy to wipe that from your own memory? I went to juvie twice to protect your brother and myself. Then I got locked up on a bullshit charge for trying to take down the woman who ruined Ian’s life. Then I flipped on a fucking Drug Cartel just to be in prison with him. And yeah he told me what you said when he and I ran away. That I would set a match to his perfectly stable life. Looks like you did a great job keeping him on the straight and narrow after that huh?”

He stared daggers at her and really tried to drive his point home. 

“You weren’t even there when he turned himself in. But you know who was? Me. I was in that cell fucking waiting for him. Ready to protect him the whole fucking time he was there.”

Fiona opened and closed her mouth like a fish. She had no response.

“I’ve been there every fucking day since. Because he’s my family and I fucking love him and I'm going to love and protect and cherish him until the fucking day I die. But today, he had a bad fucking night. Right now he’s on a seventy two hour hold. You wanna visit my husband when I bring him home? You fucking call first.” He said, moving to get up from the booth.

“Wait” she said, her hand flying out to his wrist. She choked back the tears in her throat and looked Mickey in the eye.

“What happened tonight?” She asked in the smallest voice he had ever heard from her. 

“You really wanna fuckin know?” Mickey asked, the fight starting to bleed out of him. He slid back in the booth and Fiona crossed her arms across her chest and nodded. 

“Yeah.” She said. “Last time we talked, he sounded fine.”

“Last time you talked was like a fuckin month ago.” Mickey reminded her. “Bet you didn’t even know we’re trying to foster a kid.”

Her eyes went wide. “What?” She asked.

“After fostering Franny we figured that we should give it a try. Did all the paperwork, started looking at ways to fix up the house since he didn’t want to move out and leave everyone stranded. Figured we could lean on Debbie and she could lean on us for childcare help. Then yesterday we heard back from an agency. We got rejected because of our records.”

“Fuck” Fiona said, her face falling even more if that was possible.

“Yeah, we were really fuckin upset. We spent the day in bed and tried to work through it. I thought we had, but I guess I was wrong. Cause I woke up to him yelling for me from the bathroom. Got halfway through slitting his wrists then stopped and started screaming my name. All the stress of the process must have triggered something for him. His mania last week was subtle, I just thought it was nerves until this happened.”

Mickey stopped and wiped his eyes. He knew Ian was fine now and getting the help he needed but he still hadn’t processed how fucking scary that was. 

“Said he wanted to give me a chance to have a kid without him. That he was holding me back and thought he was better off dead. I called an old EMT friend of his and she came to help and got us here off the books. He’d calmed down by the time we got to the hospital. Just needs a med adjustment and if we decide to try to apply again he has to go to therapy more to keep an eye on himself.”

“Wow.” Fiona said, wiping her own tears. “That’s...that’s fucking awful. Can’t believe that didn’t scare you off.” She said, trying to be light hearted but Mickey wasn’t having it.

“Fuck you.” he said plainly. He was done with her. “You don’t get to make jokes about that shit." He got out of the booth and threw a few dollars down for the coffee.

“Wait Mickey.”

“Fucking save it. I’m tired. Gonna go get a few hours sleep before visiting hours start again. Hospital said I could see him at the 36 hour mark.”

“When is that?” She asked. “I can come.”

Mickey shook his head. “Fuck no. You don’t get to skip the wedding and show up for the suicide attempt. He doesn’t need that kind of surprise and instability in his life. Figure your shit out Fiona. Decide to be an active part of his life, of all of their fucking lives or don’t bother showing up when shit goes sideways.”

He pulled out Ian’s phone from his pocket and shot her a text. “That’s my number. You get a plan together for how all that’s gonna work for you, you call me and then you can come see him. Until then stay away from my fucking family.”

With that, Mickey walked away, leaving Fiona behind to sit and think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued, we haven't seen the last of Mickey and Fiona's showdown.


	5. Fiona part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family stands with Mickey in the whole Fiona debate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for making the Fiona chapters so long and angsty but Mickey and her had some shit that had to be said.

Foina woke up the next morning on a blow up mattress in Fred’s room. Lip was still working on the living room of the house but he had made sure to finish him and Tami’s room and Fred’s room first so that they didn’t have to crash in the RV anymore. 

She came down the stairs and saw Lip and Tami in the half renovated kitchen, going about their morning routine with Fred set up in a playpen in the corner.

“Mornin guys” She greeted them.

“Hey” Lip said back, Tami all but ignored her, just focusing on brewing the coffee.

“Thank you for letting me crash last night. I’ll be out of your hair later, stay over at the house for the next few days.” Fiona said, running her hands on Lips kitchen counter. She watched Tami and Lip share a look, like they were having a conversation she couldn’t understand.

“What?” She finally questioned. “What’s with the look?”

Lip sighed and scratched the back of his head. 

“Stayin’ at the house. You ask Mickey about that first?” He asked. Fiona put her hand on her hip and sat back on her heels.

“No. Why should I have to ask Mickey? It’s our family’s house.”

“For fucks sake.” Tami muttered under her breath. She stopped fucking around with the coffee and went to pick up Fred. “I’m taking him to get some air.” she said to Lip, stopping to kiss his cheek before leaving out the back door.

“What’s her problem?” Fiona asked, pushing her hair behind her ear.

“Do you not hear how stupid you sound Fiona?” Lip asked her bluntly, pouring himself a cup of coffee. 

Mickey had texted him last night that Fiona was back in town and that she wasn’t welcome at the Gallagher house. He didn’t ask for any explanation, he trusted that Mickey had his reasons. It was just pure coincidence that Fred woke Lip up in the middle of the night and he got Fiona’s call asking to crash. He wasn’t going to turn his sister away but he wasn’t going to let her get away with shit either.

“The fuck?” Fiona asked, sounded offended that Lip would push back to her.

“It’s not your house anymore. It’s not mine either. It’s Ian and Mickey’s house now. They take care of everyone in it. Them and Carl and Debbie put into the squirrel fund and pay the bills.”

“So Mickey Milkovich moves into the house I raised you all in, and now I need an invitation to come back in? And you know he won’t let me go visit Ian until I ask his permission?”

“Good.” Lip said plainly, pouring Fiona a mug of coffee as well and placing them both on the counter between them.

“Good?” Fiona balked. “You should have heard the shit he said to me last night. And now Ian goes and pulls a Monica and I’m not even allowed to see him?”

“Nope. Not gonna let you do that.” Lip said immediately. “You gotta knock that shit off right now if you want any hope of seeing him. Cause Mickey hears you comparing Ian to Monica you won’t need a plane ticket back to California, he’ll throw you there himself.”

The weight of the statement sat between them and Fiona started to pace the kitchen.

“I don’t fuckin believe this.” Fiona said exhaustedly. She pointed at Lip. “You used to be on my side with their relationship.”

“Yeah” Lip agreed, crossing his arms. “Yeah I did. But then I started paying attention. I stuck around and I saw how they were with each other. Mickey Milkovich looks at our brother like he’s the only person who exists and he takes care of him like a people who love each other should.”

“Keeping Ian from his sister is taking care of him?” She questioned, feeling her side of the argument slipping away from her.

“When his sister is pulling a Monica yeah it is.” Lip said with a shrug. He saw Fiona’s eyes go wide with the accusation.

“Now I’m the Monica?”

“How long you planning on staying huh Fi? A few days? A week? Just long enough for him to forgive you then you’ll be gone again. Tell me that’s not trademark Monica.”

“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe someone else is giving me shit for getting my own life!” Fiona yelled to Lip’s ceiling. In the past he would have risen to the bait but not anymore. He stayed calm and leaned against his kitchen counter.

“None of us are saying you shouldn’t have gotten your own life Fiona. I’m just saying that you need to think before you jump back into the deep end of our lives. Ian needs stability and Mickey gives him that. Mickey is family. He’s Ian’s husband, he’s a Gallagher now. So you wanna see Ian then put your pride away, pick up the phone and call Mickey.”

\-------------

Mickey was aware that just standing here holding his husband for as long as he has would seem weird to anyone watching but fuck the last 36 hours have sucked and it was so good to see Ian back in his body.

“Mick.” Ian finally said, pulling away and tugging at Mickey’s arm. “C'mon let’s sit.”

Mickey wiped the tears from his eyes and squeezed himself onto the bullshit loveseat in the psych wards common area. He wrapped his arm around Ian’s shoulder and buried his face in Ian’s neck.

“Missed you.” Ian whispered, kissing his husband’s hair.

“Missed you too.” Mickey replied, holding Ian tighter. “Barely slept last night, bed’s too fuckin empty without you.”

Ian took a second to breathe in Mickey’s scent, his fingers brushing through his husband's hair.

“I’m so sorry Mick.” Ian said, letting his tears fall into Mickey’s black locks. Mickey pulled back when he felt them and rubbed his thumb on Ian’s cheek to wipe the tears.

“Enough with the sorry shit man. I’m sorry for not realizing your mania last week and you’re sorry for crashing so hard. We don’t owe anything to each other. Just let this place level you out and come home okay?”

Ian sniffled and nodded. “Fuckin love you” 

“Love you too.” Mickey said, leaning in to give Ian a small kiss. They rested their foreheads against each other and took a moment to just be there together, even if it was just a moment in a shitty hospital common room. 

Mickey took a deep breath and caressed the nape of Ian’s neck. “Okay fuck I gotta tell you something. I’m a little terrified that it’ll trigger something for you but I guess the hospital is the best place to do that.”

“Should I go get a nurse?” Ian asked, trying to keep it light hearted for his obviously worried husband. And that did make Mickey crack half a smile.

“Nah I uh...so your sister showed up last night.”

“Debbie?” Ian asked. “What’s so bad about that? She's been on parole for a few weeks.” Ian said, Mickey shook his head. 

“Not Debbie, Fiona. Showed up here last night screaming at nurses trying to see you.”

Mickey saw the words hit Ian’s face and honestly Mickey had never been happier that Ian was under medical mental health supervision.

“Oh” Ian said “Well that was...unexpected.”

‘Yeah” Mickey agreed. “Liam apparently told her you were in the hospital. Kid was probably just worried and overwhelmed and wanted her to know. But I uh..I kind of laid into her over shitty coffee at the diner.”

Ian met Mickey’s eye and cocked his head. “Mickey…”

Mickey nodded and waved his hand.

“I know, not my finest moment. She just got me at a bad fuckin time man. I was worn out and angry and she was giving me her fuckin Fiona attitude and I snapped. You know how much I wanted to kill her when you told me she wasn’t coming to the wedding? I saw how much that shit hurt you.”

Ian just sighed and tangled their fingers together, looking down as he played with Mickey’s rings.

“She here now?” He asked. Mickey shook his head.

“Lip texted that she crashed at his house last night. Kids sided with me and agreed to keep her out of our place. 

Ian looked up. “She gonna come and visit me?”

Mickey shook his head. “She wanted to but I told her no. Not while you’re here. She doesn’t just get to drop in, she wants to visit she’s gotta call first and you gotta be okay with it. Once you’re home and settled.”

Ian leaned into his husband’s side and nodded resoutely. “That’s a good call.” He looked up at Mickey and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You’re doing really well at sticking to the the sickness and bad times part of the vows Mick.” 

Mickey smirked and kissed Ian’s knuckles. “Yeah well the health and good times part is the easy one. You know I like a challenge.”

\---

Mickey trudged home from the hospital later that day. He was bone tired and kicking himself for taking the L instead of driving but the walk to the Gallagher house was a good chance for him to take a breath and digest everything that was happening.

He stopped at the fence when he got to the house and rolled his eyes when he saw Fiona sitting on the steps. So much for digesting.

“Seriously all Gallagher’s need to learn how to use their fucking phones.” He commented, swinging the gate open and stepping into the yard.

“How is he?” Fiona asked, standing up and shoving her hands in her back pockets.

“He’s fine.” Mickey answered, crossing his arms and standing firm in front of her. “Stitches will dissolve on their own in a week or so.”

She came down the stairs and seemed to try and shrink into herself a little bit. This must have been her version of apologetic.

“And mentally?” she asked 

“Better.” Mickey answered simply. “Even for now. Only had to tweak his dose a little.”

“That’s good.” She said, nodding her head. Mickey just grunted in agreement and they stood there just staring at each other for a minute.

“So uh...you made it pretty clear. Actually you and Lip both made it pretty clear that I’ve been acting like a shit heel.” She said.

“Yeah.” Mickey agreed. “Philip and I agree on a lot more shit then we used to these days.”

“I see that.” Fiona agreed. “Look, I didn’t realize what I was doing. I don’t mean to be like Monica, abandoning them and popping back in to fuck up their lives. It kills me that Ian could see me in that way.”

“He doesn’t” Mickey said with a shrug. Fiona gave him a perplexed look and he threw his hands up.

“Just like he did with her, my insanely generous husband already fucking forgave you for all the shit you did to him. All he tries to remember is the good shit. It’s a trait that I’m lucky he possesses but it also frees me up to be mad for him.”

“He forgives me?” She asked breathlessly. Mickey nodded and gestured between the two of them.

“We’re still not cool though. I’ve tried to prove to him that I’m different by apologizing for my fucked up shit and backing it up with actions. He and I are gonna be making up for the shit we’ve put each other through for the rest of our lives. You gotta do that too. Cause not having his mom or you there when we got married hurt him. You hurt him. And you owe him an apology for that.”

Fiona sniffled back some tears and wiped at her nose. “Yeah. Yeah of course I will. And uh, Mickey I owe you an apology too.”

“Fuck that, you’re never gonna mean it if you apologize to me.” Mickey said, waving her off. “Just make it right with Ian. He needs that from you.”

Fiona took that in and nodded again. “Yeah okay.” she agreed.

“Great.” Mickey said, walking past her up the stairs. 

“You wanna come in? Debbie and Franny are gonna make Ian gingerbread cookies for when he comes home.”

Fiona snorted out a laugh. “That’s a little on the nose.” She joked.

“You try and mock their ginger club in front of them I dare you.” He shot back with a little laugh. He opened the door and gestured to her to follow him.

“Cmon Franny’ll be happy to see another woman in the house.”


	6. Tami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people who love and have chosen to build their lives with the Gallagher men share a minute together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am overwhelmed by the positive response this story has gotten, you are all so kind. I’m so happy so many of you like the little windows into Mickeys interactions with the rest of the family.

Ian had been home from the hospital for a day when he decided he wanted to see Fiona. She had been crashing at Kev and V’s for the last few days while Mickey oscillated between the hospital and the house. 

Both of their bosses had been good about the time off. Ian was taking a week and a half of his sick days just to make sure he was back to normal before he returned to work and Darren told Mickey to take all the time he needed. 

Carl really stepped in to help Debbie take care of Franny and Liam the last few days. Mickey owed that kid a beer or something soon, even just for cleaning Ians blood up the other day.

Currently Ian was sitting on the living room couch, holding Franny in his lap and braiding her hair, he was starting to get really skilled at a french braid.

“You sure you’re good?” Mickey asked, sitting down next to Ian and pulling on his shoes.

“I’m good Mick.” Ian said sincerely, focusing on the red segments of hair in his hands. 

“Like a hundred percent? Not too late to cancel.” Mickey reminded him. Ian shook his head.

“I’m out of the hospital, I feel better, I can handle a casual visit from my sister.” He assured his husband, looking over at him with a smile. “I love you for worrying.”

“Love you too Gallagher.” Mickey said, leaning over and giving Ian a small kiss. He heard a knock on the door and stood up.

“I’ll get it, you pay attention to what you’re doing. And use the ties with the rubber shit on them they hold in her hair better.”

Ian smiled and looked down at Franny. “You believe him?’ He asked mockingly. “I know what hair ties to use don’t I Franny?” He tickled her sides and she giggled.

Mickey opened the front door and waved Fiona in before she could even get a word out. 

“Hey. You two are watchin the rugrat for a little while.” He said, following her into the house. He saw Ian turn his head and give her a big beaming smile.

“Fiona.” He said happily. He tied off Franny’s braid and put her down gently on the couch. Fiona stayed still and waited for Ian to come around to her to pull her into a hug.

“Heya sweetface.” She said in a soft motherly tone, holding her brother close. She pulled back and held his face in her hands. “Missed you so much.”

“Missed you too Fi.” Ian said, his voice getting caught in his throat. They stood there staring at each other for a second before Ian cleared his throat and stepped away. 

“Uh you cool if we babysit Franny together for a little while?” Ian asked her and she nodded. 

“Of course, I love spending time with my niece.” She looked around Ian and waved to the little girl. “Hey Franny.”

“Fi Fi!” Franny squealed and Fiona smiled wide, walking around the couch to give Franny a hug. 

Ian watched the interaction then turned to his husband. He saw Mickey was holding his coat and stepped closer, putting a hand on his neck. “You going out?”

“Just over to Lip’s place. Give you two a little privacy.” Mickey said. He took Ian’s hand in his own and turned his head, placing a kiss on Ian’s ring finger, happy to see the two bands back in their place. Then another kiss a little further down on his still fresh scar on his wrist.

“You call me if you need me okay?” He asked softly and it made Ian’s heart melt.

“Of course.” He answered simply. “See you in a bit.”

Mickey stepped away and opened the door again. “Don’t give Franny any more sugar today or she’ll be bouncin off the walls later.”

“Fuck you you’re not the boss of me.” Ian said with a playful smirk.

“The fuck I ain’t.” Mickey said, giving his husband a wink before walking out the door.

He walked down the block to Lip and Tami’s house and knocked on the door lightly.

Tami swung the door to the house open and smiled and she saw Mickey on the porch.

“Hey Mickey, what brings you here?” She asked, turning around and walking into the house. Mickey knew he was welcome here and followed her in, closing the door behind him.

“Was hopin’ I could hang out here for a little bit. Ian and Fiona are having a bit of a sit down at our place and I promised I’d give them room.”

“Oof you’re a bigger person than I am.” Tami said, going to sit back at the kitchen table. She picked up the baby food she had been feeding Fred and made some airplane noises to try and get her stubborn son to eat something.

“That a fat joke Tamietti?” Mickey teased her, leaning against the door frame.

“Screw you Milkovich.” Tami shot back, wiping the uneaten smear of food off of her son's face. “There’s some Beck’s in the fridge if you want one.”

“Oh delicious, Non alcoholic beer.” Mickeys said opening the fridge and reaching for one. “All the shitty taste of real beer, none of the shitty benefits.”

“Between my alcoholic and your lithium lightweight, it feels like the whole family is going sober now.” Tami said. She scooped up some more food and used a choo choo train sound to try to feed Fred some more goo. He turned his head away again and she gave up with a huff. 

“Fine, fuckin starve for all I care.” She said, throwing the spoon back in the impossibly small container. Mickey chuckled and took a sip of his drink.

“Yeah that’ll help.” He said, pulling out a kitchen chair for himself and sitting down.

“He won’t eat the purreed pees or the carrots or the fucking sweet potatoes. The doctor said he has to start eating baby food but no matter what I try, nothing. He’s a picky little bastard.”

Tami angrily tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned back in her chair, making a face at her stubborn son. Mickey took another sip of his fake beer then put it down.

“Gimme the pees.” Mickey said holding his hand out for the jar of baby food. Tami looked at him skeptically but passed the jar. Mickey scooted closer to Fred and pulled the spoon from the jar, wiping off the excess then pointing it at the baby.

“Open up kid.” He said simply. Fred stared at him for a second, seeming to judge him, then opened his mouth and accepted the spoon Mickey gave to him. 

“No way. Are you kidding me?” Tami said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“Just don’t do the plane trains and automobiles shit, freaks him out.” Mickey said simply, handing the jar back to Tami.

“How did you get to be such a baby whisperer?” Tami asked with a big smile, taking the jar back and using the Mickey technique to continue to feed Fred.

“Had a little practice a few years back.” Mickey answered, scratching at his eyebrow. Tami looked up at him and her face fell a little.

“Right.” She said softly. “Shit sorry, Lip told me about all that.”

Mickey shrugged and waved it off. He didn’t feel like having that conversation right now.

Tami fed the baby another spoonful and kept her eyes on him as she talked to Mickey.

“How you holding up with Ian being home?” She asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

“Better than him bein in the hospital.” Mickey said honestly, starting to pick at the label of the not-beer.

“You said Fiona is over there with him right now?” She questioned. Mickey nodded. 

“Can’t keep him away from her forever so I left them with Franny. Figured if Fiona started to get him worked up or overwhelmed, that little red would help. He’s great with her.” Mickey got a small fond smile on his face and he kept picking at his beer. Tami spared a glance over at him and felt a pang of familial love for the other man.

“It’s really fucked up that you guys got rejected by that agency. You would be great parents. You’re already great uncles.” She said, wiping Fred’s again and looking up at Mickey.

“Yeah well being gay ex cons with a history of mental illness and offensive tattoos kind of puts you at the bottom of the list anywhere they’re handing out children. Who knew?”

Tami shook her head and leaned back in her seat. She stole Mickey’s drink and took a swig and he didn’t even fight her on it.

“The amount of kids in the system living under shitty conditions, it’s bullshit that you aren’t allowed to have one.” She said, handing the drink back.

“Yeah well, when he’s ready we’ll try and apply again.” Mickey said, scratching the back of his neck.

Tami considered him for another minute and crossed her arms.

“You and Ian talk about working on your wills yet?” She asked him. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Well that’s a dark change of subject.” he said. “The fuck did that come from?”

Tami shrugged. “Lip and I started talking about it. We’re not married but we have a kid that I almost died giving birth too. And we don’t know what kind of Gallagher health scare bullshit could come and bite him in the ass. Figured we should put some serious stuff in writing, like who gets Fred if we croak.”

“Jesus that’s bleak. Ian said you had some evangelical gay hating aunt that is gonna get him if you die.” Mickey said and Tami scrunched her nose and shook her head.

“Yeah, no. Fuck that noise, she’s never getting her hands on our kid. And when Lip brought up alternatives back in the day I was kind of an ass about it. But he and I talked the other day and we made a decision.”

Mickey gave her a look, waving his hand to spur her on.

“Leavin me on pins and needles here Tamietti.”

Tami kicked his leg lightly under the table. “We picked you asshole.” She said. “Anything happens to me and Lip, you and Ian get custody of Fred and any other kids we decide to have in the future.”

Mickey felt all the color drain from his face. He sat up in his chair and felt hot all over all of a sudden.

“Are you serious?” He asked. Tami leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You are the only other person in the world who knows what it’s like to love a Gallagher man and decide to stick around anyway. We’re family Mickey. Tied by blood and marriage to this family forever. And if my kid loses Lip and me, he deserves to know his family.”

“Fuck” Mickey muttered, leaning in to pull Tami into a hug. They both let out watery sighs and held each other, eyes screwed shut.

“Okay this is getting weird.” Tami said after a minute and Mickey pulled away, wiping at his eyes.

“Yeah sorry about that.” Mickey said. Tami picked up the baby food and stirred it up just a little.

“Don’t worry about it, I won’t tell anyone you cried.” She teased lightly.

Mickey huffed out a laugh and reached over to little Fred, running his fingers through his nephew’s hair. 

“Philip gonna tell Ian?” He asked. 

Tami nodded. “He’ll call you later, see if it’s a good time to stop by.”

“Shit.” Mickey said with a little laugh. “Trusting us to take care of your kid. Guess you guys really do love us.”

“Yeah, guess we do.” Tami agreed.

“You know we gotta make you a Gallagher officially now right?” Mickey told her. Tami laughed.

“Lip get a say in that?” 

Mickey waved her off. “I’ll teach you how to get a Gallagher to propose. Might have to break a few bones but by the third time he’ll really mean it..”

Tami laughed and slapped Mickey’s arm. “Shut the fuck up Mickey.”

“I’ll even help plan it.” Mickey continued through a smile. “Got any relatives who don’t like him? Might wanna get arson insurance on the venue.”

“I take all the nice shit I said back. I hate you.” Tami said, getting up to get herself a fake beer too.

“Too bad we’re family. You can hate me all you want we’re fuckin stuck now.” Mickey said, raising his own in a toast.

“Fuckin Gallaghers.” Tami said, uncapping her drink and tapping it against his. Mickey smiled and agreed.

“Fuckin Gallaghers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this series is based around Mickey but I think I might make the next chapter Ian and Fiona centric with heavy Mickey discussion. And don’t worry I havent forgotten about Carl.


	7. Fiona and Ian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little diversion from the Brother in Law theme since a lot of you asked to see the Ian and Fiona scene. Hope you like it!

“Fuck you you’re not the boss of me.” Ian said with a playful smile.

“The fuck I ain’t.” Mickey said, giving his husband a wink before walking out the door.

Ian smirked and closed the door behind Mickey. He took a deep breath and turned around to face his sister. He walked around the couch and joined her on the ground with Franny where their niece was distracted by a coloring book.

“Franny said you braided her hair.” Fiona said to him, her fingers tracing the little girls red hair lightly.

Ian smiled proudly. “Yeah Veronica taught me. Can’t quite master her twins hair yet though, it’s a whole different skill.”

“You spend a lot of time with her girls?” Fiona questioned. 

“I mean yeah.” Ian said, leaning back against the bottom of the couch. “While Debbie was away Franny was with me and Mick. She and the twins are friends so they had play dates. We traded off who watched them all so we could each have date nights.”

“Wow.” Fiona said, leaning her arm on the coffee table and gazing at her brother. “You’re all grown up now huh?”

Ian grimaced and twisted his rings on his hand. “Been grown up for a while Fi.”

Fiona straightened up and pulled at her shirt sleeves. “Yeah, I know that. I didn’t mean-”

“You treated me like one until I got diagnosed.” Ian cut her off, his hand absentmindedly touching the end of Franny’s braid. “I got sick and suddenly you thought I was a kid again. Couldn’t make a move without you all freaking out. Mickey never did that, he never treated me like a child.”

Fiona looked down and picked at the nicks on the coffee table. “I have a lot to apologize for.” She said in a small voice.

Ian sighed and rubbed his eyebrow. Nervous tick he picked up from his husband. 

“Hey Franny.” He said to his niece, who looked over and gave him her full attention. “If I turn on cartoons could you be good for Uncle Ian and stay in here for a little? Aunty Fi Fi and I are just gonna be in the kitchen.”

Franny nodded and went back to her coloring. “Okay.” She said simply and Ian smiled. He kissed the top of her head and grabbed the remote, he put on some kids cartoon on Netflix and heaved himself up from the floor.

“C'mon I’ll make you somethin to eat.” Ian said, walking toward the kitchen, Fiona took a second then got up and followed after him.

She walked into the kitchen and took her place at the counter while Ian pulled some things from the fridge. He turned around and put two bottles of Becks on the counter.

“Since when does this house have the fake stuff?” She asked, unscrewing the cap.

“Cause keeping the real stuff around was always a great idea for all of us.” Ian explained, turning to the fridge and grabbing peanut butter and jelly and a loaf of bread.

He opened the drawer and grabbed a knife for the peanut butter. He happened to look up and see Fiona’s face at that moment and saw the way her eyes locked on the utensil.

“Seriously?” He asked, gesturing with the knife. “You think I’m gonna slice my wrists open with a butter knife?”

Fiona realized what she was doing and shook her head, looking Ian in the eyes. “I’m sorry. Just worried about you is all.”

Ian sighed and stuck the knife into the jar.

“You don’t trust me. Haven’t trusted me in years Fiona.” He said, keeping his hands busy making the sandwiches. “Is that why you didn’t come to the wedding? Didn’t trust that I was making the right decision?”

“What?” She balked. “Ian, no of course not.”

“Then what was it?” Ian asked as he spread peanut butter. “You never gave me a reason. Just ‘So sorry sweetface I don’t think I can make it.’ over a text message.”

He looked up and met her eyes again. “So what was it? Couldn’t afford the plane ticket?”

“No, no I could.” Fiona admitted, Ian just barreled right past it.

“Christ Fi, I married the love of my life after a decade of the worst shit life could throw at us. And the woman who raised me, missed it.”

“I couldn’t come back!” Fiona finally spit out. Ian’s eyes went side and Fiona started talking like it was all finally spilling out. 

“Not that soon. Everything was too new, I would have gotten stuck here again. You remember how I had to get you to talk me into leaving. If I just boomeranged back I never would have made it out again.”

“Wow” Ian said, letting out a sad huff and sitting back on his heels. “Now I know what that bullshit sounded like when I said it to Mickey.”

“What do you mean?” Fiona asked.

“Mickey asked me once why I never visited him in prison. I told him it was too hard for me to see him like that. It was shitty when I said it to him and it’s shitty to hear it from you.”

He threw the butter knife into the sink rather aggressively and that made Fiona jump a little. He took a clean one out of the drying rack and opened the jelly.

“Ian” Fiona said, getting up from the counter and coming around slowly. He just stuck the knife in the jelly and kept his eyes down. She came up next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “Ian” she said quietly.

She didn’t have to say anything else before he was turning and holding her in his arms, letting a bone deep sob out into her shoulder.

“I’m sorry” Fiona said, letting her own tears fall. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

“It was the best day of my life Fi.” Ian said through sniffles. “The best fucking day of my life.”

They pulled apart from each other and Fiona wiped her brothers tears. 

“Mom wasn’t there either and knowing that was impossible sucked. I know she fucked us up but I loved her. And I missed her. And I missed you.” 

Fiona nodded and put her hands on Ian’s shoulders. “I should have been there. All I can do is apologize and promise I’m going to do a better job at this long distance thing.”

“Fuckin better.” Ian agreed, making both of them crack half a smile through their tears. “Me too though. I need to reach out more, get better at telling you what I need from you.”

“Wow.” Fiona said with a watery chuckle, wiping her own eyes. “That sounds like some premium therapy speak little brother.” she said, making Ian smile a little more, leaning against the counter to catch his breath.

“Yeah, got health insurance now. Getting it through Mick’s work. Going to therapy twice a week.”

“A husband with health insurance, look at you go.” Fiona said, rubbing her brother's arm.

“Yeah.” Ian said, twirling his wedding rings again. He looked up to meet his sisters gaze. “He takes care of me.”

“I can see that.” Fiona said sincerely. “I should have seen it sooner, years ago.”

Ian shrugged. “I should have seen it too. Put him through so much crap. Made him wait so long before I started taking care of him too.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that.” Fiona said and Ian shook his head and waved his hands back and forth.

“No, don’t let me off the hook. Our whole family let me off the hook for too fucking long. He never did, he never should have. He loved me but he held my feet to the fire because he deserved better. He deserves better.”

Fiona crossed her arms and leaned against the fridge.

“He really ripped into me when I came to the hospital. Only time I’ve ever seen that kind of fire in his eyes was the first time you dropped. He was gonna burn the fucking ground he stood on before he let us take you anywhere.”

Ian nodded. “Yeah he told me. I’d do the same for him, it’s the least he should be able to expect from me.”

“He told me that this...that what happened this time. He told me what triggered it.” Fiona said, trying to tread lightly.

Ian nodded and subconsciously pulled the ends of his sleeves just a little lower. “Getting rejected by the adoption agency. Yeah, that fucking sucked.”

“Can’t believe I didn’t know you were trying to be a dad.” Fiona said, walking around and sitting back at the stool.

“I’ve always wanted to be a dad.” Ian said, going back to the half finished sandwiches and starting to make them again.

“Mickey and I talked about it before we got married. We agreed that the kid didn’t need to be biologically ours. Especially with my genes.”

“Ian” Fiona said sympathetically but Ian held up his hand, cutting her off.

“Stop. I don’t want to risk giving this thing to a kid. And yeah I’d love to see another kid with Mickey’s eyes but I don’t need it. There are enough kids out there that need love and protection and we wanna try and raise one. After a few months with Franny and Liam under our care we realized we were ready.”

“That’s...that’s great Ian.” Fiona said with reserved enthusiasm. 

There was a pregnant pause between them where Fiona seemed to be gathering the courage to say something. Ian just finished making his and Fiona’s sandwiches and then started on one for Franny.

“Say what you’re trying not to say Fi.” He said simply, going to the fridge and getting the strawberry jelly that only Franny liked to eat and turning back toward the counter to use it. 

“I just...Mickey’s already a dad.” She finally said and Ian let that statement sit for a second, opening the jar.

“Yes he was.” Ian said, spreading the jelly carefully. “And so was I for a little bit. In a manic fog for most of it, but yeah. He and I had a family once.”

Ian assembled the sandwich and reached over to the drying rack again to get the weird flower shaped cookie cutter that Franny insisted be used for her sandwiches.

“But that was a complicated, fucked up sad situation. And it was a lifetime ago. We both miss Yevgeny. We both love him in our own way, but he’s not ours anymore. He’s happy in another place with his mother and we had to let him go.” 

Ian pressed the sandwich into the flower shape, putting it on a plate and looked up at his sister. 

“We want a kid of our own. We’d be good parents because we want this. We want this kid so fucking much.” He got a juice box out of the fridge and looked over his shoulder to Fiona. “Excuse me a second.”

Ian walked into the living room and crouched down, handing the plate and the juicebox over to his niece. “Here you go Franny baby.”

“Tanks Unc Ian” Franny said, craning her head up and kissing him on the cheek. 

“Sure thing munchkin.” He said, kissing her forehead then walking back into the kitchen. He saw Fiona looking at him with a fond smile, her eyes red rimmed with tears again.

“What?” He asked her, picking up a sandwich and handing it to her too.

“I was right about one thing.” Fiona said, tearing a piece of the sandwich off. “He did set a match to your life. But it lit a fire inside of you, I’ve never seen you so happy. I can feel it radiating off of you.”

Ian nodded and took a sip of the fake beer. “He’s my home, simple as that.” He said with a shrug.

“I’m sorry for everything.” Fiona told him sincerely. “All I ever wanted is for you kids to be happy.”

Ian nodded. “We are, for the most part. Lip and Tami are solid, he’s sober and Fred is an angel. Debbie is figuring her shit out, but she’s a good mom. Carl is...he might be the strongest one of all of us. And Liam kind of has a boyfriend so that’s keeping things interesting.”

Fiona chuckled. “Glad Liam is working that out. He kind of came out to me before I left.”

Ian cut his own sandwich in half and took a bite. “He told me.” he said with a mouth full of bread. “Think I’d just Out my little brother like that?”

Fiona threw a piece of crust at him. “Asshole.” She teased and they both laughed. 

“How long you in town for?” Ian asked as the laughter died down.

“Told the people I work with I’d be back in a week.” Fiona said. “Sorry it’s so quick.”

“Not expecting you to leave your life behind Fi.” Ian said. “Just wanna know how long we have you for. You wanna stay for dinner? Mickey and Veronica are making lasagna and you can meet Debbie girlfriend Sandy, Milkovich by the way so be warned, and Liam’s studdy buddy boyfriend.”

Fiona’s jaw dropped. “That’s a lot of information to take in.” she said and Ian chuckled.

“One big happy family Fi. Minus Frank of course.”

Fiona laughed. “Good to see some things never change.”


	8. Carl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey has to thank Carl for some stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Discussions of suicide attempt
> 
> You guys have all been really patient waiting for this Carl chapter so I hope you like it!

Carl Gallagher is a man of action over words. He sees something that he wants to do or that needs doing and he does it. Garbage needs to be picked up, he hops on the truck. All the shit for Ian and Mickey's wedding needed to be moved and he grabbed a stack of chairs, no problem.

Finding his brother on the bathroom floor, bleeding all over his husband...just another thing he needed to take care of. He held pressure on Ian’s wrists while Mickey called the EMT’s. He hopped in the rig with Mickey and stayed silent and out of the way the whole ride over. 

And when the doctors said Ian was stable and sleeping, Carl went back to the house and cleaned the blood off the floor. Because it needed to be done.

If Carl thought his efforts went unnoticed he was wrong. Mickey identified with the second youngest Gallagher on a real level and Mickey saw everything that Carl did for them.

After Fiona left town again the whole house sort of settled back into a normal routine. Ian and Mickey went back to work and the normal babysitting rotation went back into place. 

Tonight was Sandy and Debbie’s night in with Franny. Liam had his friend over to watch a movie and Ian was working late. Mickey came down the stairs to the kitchen where Carl was looking in the cabinets aimlessly, trying to figure out what to eat.

“Hey, you got plans tonight?” Mickey asked him casually, tucking his wallet and keys into his back pockets.

“Just taking down a box of Cheerios, why?” Carl questioned him, pulling the box from the cabinet.

“Fuck that, come with me. We’ll go to a spot I know, get a burger and a beer or some shit.” Mickey said, grabbing Carl’s coat and throwing it to him.

“Yeah?” Carl asked as he stuck his arms in the sleeves.

“Yeah man cmon we’ll take Debbie’s car.” Mickey walked through the living room, Carl trailing behind him.

“Borrowing your ride Red. Be back in an hour or two.” Mickey informed Debbie, stopping to give Sandy a noogie on his way out. Sandy slapped him away and Debbie curled into her side on the couch.

“Sounds good Mickey don’t crash it.” She said, only half paying attention.

“Like it would make a difference with that piece of shit.” Mickey muttered as he walked out the door.

Carl and Mickey got in the car and drove the short distance to a hole in the wall bar a few miles from the house.

“This place looks like a shit hole.” Carl commented as they walked from the car to the door.

“It’s a shit hole with a great fuckin burger.” Mickey said, opening the door and ushering the younger man inside. “A buddy of mine runs the kitchen and he’s like the Southside Bobby Fuckin Flay man.”

“Cool” Carl said as they slid into a booth on the side wall. They ordered their food and beers and Carl was glad this place didn’t seem to give a shit about carding cause they didn’t give him a hard time. 

“So what’s with the date night man? Trying to upgrade to a younger man?” Carl teased when their drinks arrived.

“Please, you couldn’t handle all this.” Mickey said simply, taking a sip of his beer. “Nah man just thought I owed you something, a thank you.”

Carl gave him a confused look. “A thank you for what?”

Mickey smirked. “Seriously Carl? I gotta spell shit out for you?” Carl just shrugged.

“Jesus christ man, I’m thanking you for what you did the night Ian sliced his arms open.” Mickey said bluntly. 

“You were...fucking there for me or whatever. You were there for both of us. You fuckin cleaned his blood up from the bathroom floor before anyone even asked.”

Carl picked at the label on his beer bottle.. “No one needed to ask.”

“Fuck. Nothing screams ‘raised by Frank and Monica’ like an eighteen year old just knowing what to do after a bloody suicide attempt.” Mickey said, taking another sip of his beer. 

“Yeah well I’m not just the ten year old with a BB gun anymore.” Carl said, scratching the back of his head. “I’m not going around blowing up meth labs and selling weed on the corner. I’m training to be a police officer.”

“And despite how itchy that makes me, I’m proud of you kid.” Mickey replied, making Carl look up and meet his eyes. 

“I know I’m not your blood but let's be real, that shit barely matters. You’ve always kinda just...been there in some of me and your brothers darkest times. I noticed and it always kinda helped.”

“It did?” Carl asked.

“Fuck yeah man. You’re the only Gallagher who bothered to check in on me when Ian took the baby and fuckin disapeared. Scared the shit out of me when you told me the stuff about Monica but it helped. Having someone there who had seen shit like that before and knew how it could end.”

“Ever occur to you that I just wanted to drink your beer and play with your guns?” Carl asked with a teasing grin. Mickey gave him half a smile.

“I mean yeah I'm sure that was a factor. But I also know your siblings aren't the best at dealing with other people's emotions. Not like I’m some fuckin expert, but I think you and I handle that shit similarly.”

“Yeah...yeah maybe.” Carl replied.

They went quiet and the burgers arrived. They both dug in and just let the silence between them breathe for a while while the bar played some shitty music over the speakers. After a few minutes Carl spoke up.

“Ian scares me sometimes, like Monica used to.” Carl said in a quiet, restrained voice. Mickey nodded and ate another fry.

“Yeah, he scares the shit out of me too. All the time. But you know he’s doing better right?” Mickey questioned the younger Gallagher. Carl looked up at him tentatively.

“You sure?” He asked. 

“Fuck yeah man.” Mickey assured him. “I’m not gonna promise that bad shit’s never gonna happen again cause we both know that would be a lie. But he’s good, I trust that he’s doing what he needs to do. And I trust that he’ll tell me if shit gets bad again.”

Carl just got quiet again and Mickey put a hand on the kid’s arm.

“Hey, he stopped himself this time too. He got down, he did something stupid but he realized it was a mistake and he called out for me and he stopped it.” Mickey pointed out.

“Monica never did that. Only survived by dumb luck and stomach pumps and honestly Jimmy Steve once.” Carl said, trying not to think to much about that Thanksgiving. 

Mickey took back his hand and swallowed more of his beer. “Ian told me about that. Fuckin hate that I was in juvy when that happened to you guys. We weren’t in a good place. I shoulda been there for him.”

They both just let that hang there, Carl wasn’t going to dispute it.

“And you think he can handle it if you guys actually get a kid next time?” Carl asked, changing the subject. 

Mickey should have known that was coming. He and Carl were so fuckin similar it was scary sometimes, of course the kid would ask a quesion Mickey had been avoiding.

“I’ll be honest with you man, none of us know what’s gonna happen. But we’ve been taking care of Franny for a few months and that didn’t trigger anything for him. It was the rejection that set him off, another offical kind of place telling him he wasn’t good enough. But, I really believe your brother is gonna be a great dad.”

“Being a Mom didn’t stop Monica from spinning out.” Carl pointed out. Mickey pointed a stern finger at Carl.

“Okay first of all he’s not your Mom.” Mickey said, Carl held up his hands in surrender.

“Yeah you’re right, that was my bad.” Carl said. Mickey nodded and continued.

“Second of all, Monica spun out because she never took her meds. She never went to therapy and she was married to an alcoholic sociopath.”

Carl got a cheeky look on his face and Mickey stared him down. “No fuckin jokes Carl.” He said and Carl chuckled but stayed quiet.

“I’m just saying, even when she was on her meds she didn’t take them consistently. She wasn’t taking fucking care of herself so of course she couldn’t take care of any of you.”

“But Ian’s got you.” Carl finished for him and Mickey nodded and grabbed at his beer.

“That’s right. He’s got me and I know you’re gonna be there for both of us but you’re also just a fuckin kid man. You don’t have to worry about your brother going off the deep end all the time.”

“If you’re looking out for him, whose looking out for you?” Carl asked.

“He is.” Mickey said simply. “He’s my husband and being bipolar doesn’t make him an invalid. He looks after me, I look after him, it’s all right there in the vows.”

“Your family ever come around to the gay thing? Besides Sandy I mean.” Carl asked, knowing he was risking getting knocked out trying to get Mickey to talk about his siblings.

“Got a few dumb ass cousins but they’re harmless. My brothers could give a shit, they knew the score when Ian was living with us. And Mandy and Ian are best friends, they still text and facetime and shit all the time.”

“And Terry is pretty much Dead.” Carl finished for him, raising his beer for a toast.

“And Terry is pretty much Dead.” Mickey said with a smile, clinking his glass with Carl’s.

“You make my brother happy man. Don’t tell Lip but Ian was always kind of my favorite big brother and it’s nice to see him happy.”

Mickey smiled. “Yeah seeing him happy is pretty fuckin great. You saying I’m not your favorite older brother? I know I outrank Phillip.”

“Oh shit I guess you are my brother now.” Carl said, seeming like that thought genuinely had never occurred to him before which made Mickey let out a full belly chuckle.

“Never change Carl.” He said simply, taking out his wallet and throwing some cash on the table. “Cmon lets get home your brother will be off work soon.”

“Yeah okay, thanks for the beer.” Carl said, getting up and following Mickey out of the bar.

“Sure thing man, just don’t tell your brother I let you have a real one instead of that shit at the house.” Mickey said as they got in the car.

“Yeah yeah,” Carl said as he got in the passenger side, then snapped his head to look at Mickey. “Wait what do you mean a real one?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh we’re not done just yet


	9. Mandy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Mickey's birthday and Ian hasn't forgotten that he's a brother in law too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the length of this one, it kind of got away from me. I just miss Mandy a lot.

It was summer, the dead of August in the Gallagher household. Ian and Mickey had been married for almost eight months and tomorrow was Mickey’s birthday. 

Tomorrow was Mickey’s first birthday as Ian Gallagher’s husband and Ian was determined to make it a good one. 

After the horror stories Mickey had told Ian about the way Terry treated his children on holidays and on their birthdays Ian made a promise to himself that Mickey would only ever have happy memories of days like that ever again.

Which is why Ian and Mickey were currently laying, sweaty and happy on some very comfortable fancy ass hotel sheets, clinging to each other like they were the only thing tethering each other to the world.

“Holy fuck Ian” Mickey panted, keeping his legs firmly wrapped around his husbands waist. “That was...fuck top ten at the very least.”

Ian chuckled and buried his face in his Mickey’s shoulder. “Mmm only the best for my birthday boy.”

That made Mickey smile and kiss the side of his husbands head. “Birthday ain’t until tomorrow.” He reminded Ian.

The cute to grossness factor started to tip the scales for how they were laying so Ian gently pulled out of Mickey and rolled to the mattress, throwing an arm over Mickey’s chest.

“Guess I’ll have to keep fucking you til tomorrow then.” Ian answered simply, kissing the tattoo on Mickey’s chest.

“Guess so.” Mickey said with a cocky smile. “Wanna shower? I can feel your jizz leaking down my leg.”

“Don’t act like you don’t like that.” Ian said with a smirk, leaning over to give Mickey a proper kiss then getting out of bed, offering Mickey a hand to join him.

“How the fuck did you manage to swing a place like this?” Mickey asked as they walked to the bathroom and started the water. “Tried to ask you in the elevator but you stuck your fuckin tongue down my throat.”

“Again is that a complaint?” Ian asked with an eyebrow raise. He pulled Mickey under the spray of the water and shrugged.

“I’ve been putting a little bit of my paychecks aside for a while.”   
Ian poured some hotel shampoo into his hands and started to lather his husbands hair.

“Not enough to hurt the squirrel fund for the house, but enough. My fuckin hospital bills ate into it which is why this is only a one night stay.” Ian said in a self deprecating tone.

“Ey” Mickey said, holding Ian’s arm steady and locking eyes with him. He turned his head and kissed the fading scar on Ian’s wrist. “None of that shit.”

“Love you.” Ian said, leaning in for a small kiss before continuing what he was saying. “Anyway I saved up enough for this, some room service for when we get hungry later and a surprise for tomorrow.”

“Ian you didn’t have to do all that.” Mickey said, feeling guilty for how much Ian must have spent on all of this.

“It’s your first birthday as my husband and I decided to celebrate you.” Ian said, tilting Mickey’s head back and washing out all of the shampoo.

“Yeah but I didn’t do anything like this for your birthday a few months ago.” Mickey said, trying to push back.

“You kept me alive.” Ian said quietly. His ‘bathroom incident’ happened a few days before his birthday so they didn’t do anything for the day besides lay in bed and hold each other once Ian was released.

They locked eyes again and if it weren’t for the water of the shower it would be obvious that Ian shed a few tears at the memory of what he put his husband through. 

“We might not always be able to afford nights away or nice presents. But I’m never letting a birthday or any other day pass without letting you know how much I fucking love and cherish you Mickey Gallagher-Milkovich.”

Now Mickey was the one thankful for the water hiding his tears.

“Fuckin love you too Ian Gallagher-Milkovich.” He echoed back. They rested their foreheads together and just revealed in each others warmth and the sound of the water echoing off the tiles.

“Now” Ian said, interrupting them. “Turn around husband, I’m gonna eat you out then fuck you so hard I’ll have to carry you to the bed.”

“Ooh” Mickey said, leaning in for a crushing kiss. “Happy Birthday to me.”

\-----

The next morning Ian woke Mickey up with a long incredible blowjob and followed it up with one more rough fuck into the hotel mattress before checkout time. They got to the elevator and Mickey felt like he was flating on a fucking cloud, holding onto Ian’s hand and gazing at his amazing husband who suddenly seemed to not be able to get his head out of his fucking phone.

“The fuck got you so distracted?” Mickey asked, starting to feel the high wear off.

“Sorry babe just checking to make sure your present got delivered.” Ian said, typing out one last text then putting his phone away.

“Ian I told you I don’t need any fuckin presents.” Mickey said as the elevator dinged and they walked out into the lobby. 

“Oh believe me you’re gonna like this one.” Ian said, getting a shit eating grin and pointing their joined hands out in front of them.

Mickey’s attention turned from Ian to where ever he was pointing and saw….holy fuck.

“Mandy?” Mickey asked, taking in the sight of his sister. She looked amazing, she was blonde and healthy looking. Her skin was tan and fucking Glowing and everything she was wearing looked expensive as shit. He almost didn’t recognize her, didn’t believe that was really Mandy.

“What’s up dick breath?” Mandy asked, her heels clicking on the hotels marble floor as she came in to give her brother a hug.

Yupp. Still definitely his sister.

Mickey let go of Ian’s hand and pulled his sister in for a crushing hug, he hadn’t realized just how much he had fucking missed her until this moment and it was hitting him like a brick wall.

“The fuck are you doing back in this shit hole of a city?” He asked, not at all concealing his tears in his sister’s hair.

“Your husband asked me to come as a birthday present.” Mandy said. Mickey pulled away and whirled around to Ian.

“You fuckin flew her out here?” He asked. Ian held up his hands.

“I just made the plans. She paid her own way, she’s kind of killing it in Nevada.”

Mickey’s head whipped back around to Mandy. “Fuck, we need to catch up.”

“We have reservations at the brunch place across the street.” Ian said, putting an arm around Mickey’s shoulders, and the other around Mandys. “Lets go”

\----

They sat around the small table, all three of them smiling more than they ever remembered smiling as Mandy caught the guys up with what she was up to.

“So yeah I run my own escort agency now. All completely above board and legit and Vegas is basically escort heaven. We have a reliable security team and an on call doctor to take care of all the girls. Most of them stay for a year or two, make enough bank to buy a house and pay off all their student loan debt then they leave.” Mandy said, casually raising her coffee mug for a sip.

Mickey sat, slack jawed and stunned at his sister’s success. Ian just elbowed him in the ribs 

“Check it out, Mandy’s a better pimp than you were.” He teased. And Mickey couldn’t help but agree.

“You kind of are.” Mickey said, reaching across the table for his sister’s hand. “I’m so proud of you Mandy.”

Mandy gave her brother a soft smile and squeezed his hand. She looked over to Ian.

“You went and made my brother all soft you asshole.” She teased him and Ian smirked at her.

“I think he would argue quite the opposite thank you very much.” Ian said and Mandy scrunched up her nose and pulled away.

“Ew you ruined it.” She said and both men laughed.

“Hey he’s your brother too now.” Mickey pointed out. “Brother in Law but still.” 

“I’ve made out with him he can’t be my brother.” Mandy said, crossing her arms. Mickey’s eyebrows almost flew off of his head

“When did you two make out?” He almost yelled in the middle of the brunch place. Ian smiled and put a hand on the back of his husbands neck, rubbing his fingers in small circles.

“Hmm let me think. She came over to my place to watch a movie, then she jumped me and tried to get into my pants. I pushed her off and ran away because-”

“Gay” Mandy interrupted and Ian smiled at her then turned back to Mickey.

“Then the next day her angry big brother came charging into my place of work trying to murder me. It’s okay though, it all worked out.” Ian finished with a fond smile, making Mickey blush and sink into his husband’s touch.

“Well Big is a stretch.” Mandy teased and Mickey whipped his head around to her.

“Watch it bitch.” He chided.

“Eat me squirt.” She fired back softly, leaning back in her chair. “Shit I guess I’m kind of responsible for you guys getting together in the first place huh?”

“No fuckin way. His dick is the only thing getting credit for that.” Mickey said, touching his husband’s thigh. Mandy groaned in annoyance and rolled her eyes.

“You guys have been married for months and basically raising two children, how are you still this newlywed horny?” Mandy complained, picking up her danish and taking a bite.

“This is base level horny for us.” Ian said with a proud smile. “Newlywed horny fucking ruined our hotel room. And that was before the rain of bullets.”

“Oh good ol dad.” Mandy said sullenly. Mickey nodded and leaned a little further into Ian’s side.

“You heard he’s a cord yank away from biting it right?” Mickey asked as he played with Ian’s fingers and Mandy nodded. 

“Iggy called me. Bout fuckin time.”

“Glad it’s going slow.” Ian agreed. “He deserves slow and painful.”

Mickey leaned over and kissed Ian’s cheek. They all shared the soft moment then Mickey looked at his sister.

“How long you in town for?” He asked.

“Just a few days. Have to get back to my girls.” 

“Come to family dinner tonight.” Mickey insisted. “Debbie and Carl are horrible at keeping secrets and I heard them planning a dinner with a cake for me and shit tonight.”

“I’m gonna fuckin kill those two blabbermouths.” Ian muttered and Mickey tapped his thigh.

“Shut up it’s still a nice surprise.”

Mandy smiled at the two of them leaning her arms on the table.

“Fuck, you two really are perfect together now. All married and official. I’m really proud of you both.”

Ian smiled at his best friend and touched her arm. “That a yes to Mickey’s birthday dinner?”

Mandy nodded. “Of course.” She said sincerely, then tried to brush it off with a stupid comment. “Gotta see if Debbie needs more life advice on boys after all.”

Both men laughed and Mickey spoke up. “Guess you haven't talked to Sandy in a minute.”

Mandy was confused by that at first then her eyes widened. “No Fucking Way tell me everything!”


	10. Sandy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback to the wedding where Sandy and Ian get a little in law bonding time of their own and someone in Mickey's family defends him FOR ONCE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So I know this chapter has taken a while but I haven't been able to write much because of *gestures wildly all around us* ya know, this. But I wanted to flash back a little bit and give Ian one more in law moment with a member of Mickey's family before I wrap it all up with Mickey's birthday dinner in Chapter 11. Thank you all for your kind words and sticking with me through this story that couldn't seem to end.

Ian should be eating more, it is his wedding day and he’s forgiving himself for the beer and a half he already had but if he wanted to be upright when they walked out of the reception hall he needed to get some food into his system. Fuckin meds making him a lightweight.

So as the slow song came to a close and the tempo of the next song began to ramp up Ian stepped out of his husbands arms and gave Mickey a small kiss.

“You keep dancing, I’m gonna get something to eat.”

“Kay.” Mickey replied with a big smile, already stepping away and starting to bounce to the beat of what Ian thinks is a Kesha song.

“Hey” Ian said, pulling Mickey close and speaking into his ear. “Don’t wear yourself out too much. I’ve got plans for that ass later.”

“Mmm sir yes sir.” Mickey agreed, kissing Ian’s cheek then shoving him gently away.

Ian chuckled and hobbled his way over to the buffet. He made himself a small plate and plopped down at an empty table nearby to eat. His eyeline was so firmly locked onto Mickey dancing the night away with Debbie and Liam that when he turned and saw Sandy sitting next to him he almost choked on his food.

“Holy fuck” He said, jerking in his chair. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry.” Sandy said with a laugh, raising her beer. “I’m light on my feet.”

Ian nodded and shifted awkwardly in his chair. He and Sandy weren’t alone together often. And even though they were in a hall full of people, suddenly this table felt very secluded.

“My uh, my sister tire you out?” He asked, trying to make a joke.

“Not yet.” She said with a smirk. “But I actually came over to talk to you.”

“What for?” Ian questioned

“Well I know you don’t know me that well. And my living situation has been fucked up for a lotta years so I know you don’t realize how much time Mickey and I really spent together growing up. But we were close, Me Mandy and Mickey. Like siblings. And being Gay Milkoviches really bonds a couple of motherfuckers pretty tight.”

“Oh...okay?” Ian asked, furrowing his brows to figure out what she was trying to say.

“Infact, Mickey was the first person I came out to. When I heard about what he did at the Christening I thought he was a fucking legend. I came over two days later all fucking excited to tell him. But he was all fucked up. Not just his face. You hadn’t gotten out of bed in 48 hours and everyone else in the house was fuck knows where. I came out to him and he told me how fucking scared he was about everything going on with you.”

“You were there? Fuck I don’t remember that.” Ian said, leaning back in his chair and scratching the back of his neck.

“Yeah and when he was in prison a few years back, and Mandy had her own shit going on...did you know that I was the only family that visited him? I mean I know you gave up after like two visits.”

“Oh.” Ian said, sitting up straighter and feeling his blood go a little bit colder. “Uh, thank you. Thank you for doing that.”

“Don’t thank me, listen to me.” Sandy said, her face suddenly getting very serious. “I meant to do this earlier today but everything got fucked so we’re doing it now.”

“Doing what exactly?” Ian countered.

“The shovel speech. The one no one else in my family is going to give you because no Milkovich currently present gives enough of a shit about Mickey to even try and protect him.”

“Seriously?” Ian countered. “I literally married him a few hours ago. You gave him away.”

Sandy smirked but the fire in her eyes was dark. 

“I know you made it to the altar and you married him but I’m also not an idiot who lives in a fairytale. Marriage is fucking hard and I know your mental shit is even harder. But I swear to god if I ever see you hurt him the way I’ve seen you hurt him before, I will hunt you down, kill you bloody and make you fucking dissapear off the face of the earth.”

She stared Ian down until he felt chills run down his spine. 

“We understand each other?” She asked him, raising that fucking Milkovich eyebrow they all have.

“Sandy listen to me.” Ian started, pointing out toward Mickey on the dance floor. “Marrying that man is one of the only smart moves I have ever made in my life. I know what I have. I know how fucking lucky I am to have it. I’m not going to promise perfect but I promise I’m going to love Mickey every day for the rest of my life.”

Sandy nodded and took a swig of her beer. “Good to hear. Treat him right and we won’t have a problem.”

Ian smiled and held up his mostly empty beer to clink with hers.

“I’m glad he’s got someone else in his corner.”

Sandy nodded. “Queer Milkovich tribe is small but mighty. We ever get Molly back in the South Side and it’s over for you bitches.”

Ian chuckled and sensed more than saw Mickey appear next to him, leaning down to kiss Ian’s neck.

“Is my husband well fed enough now? DJ’s putting on Livin on a Prayer and I want a fucking dance.”

“You gonna support my weight so I don’t fuck my leg up any more?” Ian asked, even as he stood up, taking Mickey’s arm.

“We’ll give it a shot.” Mickey said wagging his eyebrows. Sandy rolled her eyes.

“Fuck, you’re married a few hours and already with the terrible dad humor.” She complained.

“I think he actually got that from me.” Ian said, putting his arm around Mickey’s shoulders.

“Not the only thing I get from you.” Mickey said, smacking Ian’s ass playfully.

“Okay get the fuck out of here and go dance to your terrible Bon Jovi.” Sandy said, shooing them away. 

“Thanks for that Sandy.” Mickey said, flipping her off.

“Yeah thanks Sandy.” Ian said, giving her a genuine smile, to which she nodded in appreciation. Then Mickey spoke up as the opening riff to Livin on A Prayer started.

“We gonna fuckin dance or not?”


	11. Everyone Together Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gathers to celebrate Mickey on his first birthday as an offical Gallagher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your kind comments throughout this whole story/series whatever this was. I had so much fun writing it and I'm nowhere near done with this universe yet. But as far as the Brother In Law story goes, this is the final chapter!

They got back to the Gallagher house that afternoon and Ian, Mandy, Franny and Mickey sat in the living room, banned from the kitchen while Debbie, Sandy, Carl and Liam worked on dinner. 

Ian and Mandy sat facing each other on the couch while Mickey sat on the floor between them, observing Franny as she colored him a birthday drawing.

“You sure you’re gonna be okay if Lip, Tami and Fred come to Mickey’s birthday dinner tonight?” Ian asked Mandy.

“It’s your house man I’m not going to tell you to uninvite your brother to dinner. And I’m really fine, that scar healed a long time ago.” Mandy assured him. 

“Told you.” Mickey said, flicking his husband's knee. “Phillip aint gonna be a fucking problem.”

“Language.” Ian said, smacking Mickey’s arm and gesturing to their niece.

Mickey chuckled. “Oh that’s cute. That train left the station a long fucking time ago.” Mickey said to Ian, then turned to Franny. “Didn’t it little Red?”

“Train choo choo.” Franny said, not looking up from her masterpiece she seemed determined to finish. Mickey laughed and Mandy looked on in awe.

“Geez Mick, being an Uncle looks good on you.” She commented and saw her brother’s cheeks get red.

“He’s great with the kids. Even little Freddy loves him, sometimes Mickey is the only one who can get him to stop screaming.”

“Lip hates it, it’s hilarious.” Mickey said with a smirk, handing Franny the purple crayon she was suddenly desperate for. 

As if his ears were burning, about a second later Lip walked in the door with Tami, Fred happily perched on her hip.

“Hey hope we didn’t miss dinner.” Lip said with a bright smile, and to his credit it only faltered a little bit when he saw Mandy sitting on the couch. They gave each other polite nods of acknowledgement and Lip continued on to the kitchen to help set the table.

“No you’re good.” Mickey said, getting up from the floor and ruffling Franny’s hair to let her know he wasn’t ditching her. He just stepped to the other side of the coffee table to catch Fred’s attention and say hello.

“I was trying to get this one to say Mickey as a birthday present but he only seems to be able to master Ick.” Tami said with some frustration but it made Mickey smile.

“Aw that’s okay little guy. A lot of people used to think Ick when I was around.” He comforted the toddler, scrunching up his eyebrows to make a silly face, which made Fred giggle. 

Ian watched the whole exchange with a glossy eyed smile and Mandy noticed, putting her hand on Ian’s shoulder.

“Hey.” she said softly. “You’re gonna be great dads you know that?” She commented. 

“Yeah we’ll see if we even get that far.” Ian said, wiping his barely shed tears.

“You’re gonna get one.” She assured him. “If not from the state then I’ll rent my womb out to you. Make a little ginger brat with a bad attitude, best of both of you two. Promise I’ll carry it full term and everything.”

Ian gave his best friend a fond look and covered her hand with his. “Thanks. Fiona offered a similar service. But just like we told her, thank you but we want to try and help a kid who needs it first. But that’s not a no.”

Mandy nodded and reached up to push some of Ian’s short hair behind his ear. 

“I hear you. And the offer stands as long as my eggs do.” She looked at Ian and held his face. “My fake boyfriend all grown up and planning a family with my brother.”

“Fuckin weird right?” Ian asked with a smirk. Mandy gave him a long look and shook her head gently.

“Nah, it’s kind of perfect.” She answered softly.

The two of them smiled and held hands as they turned back to watch Mickey take Fred into his arms and look down at Franny as she presented her drawing to him. 

“Uncle Mouse!” She said, holding up her drawing of some rainbow circles that resembled Mickey Mouse holding hands with a little stick figured girl with red hair. “It’s us!” she insisted.

Mickey looked at the drawing and actually got a little misty in the eyes. “It’s perfect Ginger Spice. Why don’t we put it on the fridge when your Mommy calls us for dinner?”

Her eyes got wide and she sprinted away to the kitchen “MOMMY IS DINNER READY?” She yelled as she went.

They all laughed and Tami seemed to just then notice that Mandy was in the room. She stepped a little closer and offered her hand to shake.

“Oh Hi sorry I didn’t see you there. I’m Tami, Fred’s mom and Lips...whatever.”

Mandy took her hand and shook it politely. She really did seem much more Zen then either Ian or Mickey ever expected.

“I’m Mandy, Mickey’s sister and Ian’s fake ex girlfriend.”

“My beard before I could grow one.” Ian said, giving Mandy a playful squeeze.

Tami laughed then Mickey started to see the wheels spin in her head. “Mandy...where have I heard that name... Oh. OH you’re..”

“She and Lip used to fuck.” Mickey said, cutting her off “Yes it’s very weird but she's a pimp in Vegas now and you have Fred.” Mickey said bluntly, just trying to skip all the awkward parts.

“He’s beautiful.” Mandy said sincerely, gesturing to the small boy in Mickey’s arms. Tami took a second to digest and brush off the weirdness then turned to look at her son in Mickey’s arms, looking at his little face always made her heart melt a little. 

“He is isn’t he? Just hope he doesn’t end up with Lip’s nose.” Tami said and Mandy chuckled.

“Yeah I wouldn’t wish that thing on a sweet little baby.” she agreed. And much to Ian and Mickey’s delight, a calm seemed to wash over the two women. Then they heard Debbie call them into the kitchen for dinner

\------

They all gathered around the table, Mickey depositing Fred into his height chair before taking a seat next to Ian. Ian put a hand on Mickey’s thigh and leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“What was that for?” Mickey asked.

“Cause I love you.” Ian said with a shrug. Mickey smirked and turned to give Ian a peck on the lips. 

“Love you too dork.”

The rest of the family finally got settled around the table and Sandy quieted them all down by clinking her utensils together.

“Okay everyone I know it's hard for you Gallaghers but I’m gonna ask you to shut the hell up for a minute.” Sandy said.

“Harsh.” Debbie said with a grimace. 

“True though.” Tami said with a chuckle.

“Seriously.” Mandy agreed. 

“Okay now that I have your attention, I’m turning it over to Ian who told me he wants to make a speech or whatever.”

“Thanks Sandy.” Ian said, standing up and raising his glass of water. 

He put a hand on Mickey’s shoulder and looked down at him fondly.

“Mickey I know you don’t talk about your past that much but from what I know and what the wonder twins here have let slip I think I’m safe in saying you probably didn’t have many birthday parties.”

“Did he just call us the wonder twins?” Mandy asked her cousin.

“I JUST did a nice thing for you.” Mandy pointed out.

“Hey Zip it Milkoviches” Debby said, nudging her girlfriend.

Ian chuckled. “Thank’s Debs.” He looked back at Mickey.

“What I mean to say is that you’ve had far too many birthday’s where you weren’t celebrated. And now that we’re married I want to make it clear to you that you’re never going to have a year go by where that happens again.”

“Cmon Ian you don’t have to do all this.” Mickey said, taking Ian’s hand but Ian shook his head.

“It’s not just me. Everyone here wanted to make it clear to you that you are family. You’re a Gallagher now and we love you as one of our own. So here’s to my beautiful stubborn husband, Happy birthday Mick.”

Ian raised his glass higher and everyone else picked their up to cheers him.

Mickey sat there smiling, laughing a little as everyone put down their cups and descended into the chaos that was Gallagher family dinner time. Debbie, Tami and Ian went about distributing everyone’s food and Mickey just sat back and watched.

He looked at Mandy and she reached over to hold his hand.

“Gotts say I’m gonna miss being your only sister. You’re a whole ass Gallagher now.”

“Guess I am huh?” Mickey asked. She smirked at him and turned back to the table, slapping Sandy’s hand away from the mashed potatoes.

Ian settled back in his seat and put a full plate in front of Mickey.

“So what do you think?” Ian asked. “You have a good birthday?”

Mickey smirked, he leaned over and gave Ian a small kiss. “Yeah guess I’ll stick around for another year.”

“Sweet” Ian said, pumping his arm in success. Mickey laughed and kissed Ian again.

“Love you Ian Gallagher.”

Ian smiled and touched Mickey’s cheek. “Love you back Mickey Gallagher.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again. Hope I did it justice!


End file.
